Jake Monaco

American film and TV composer

Jake Monaco

Monaco at the 2024 WonderCon

Background information
Genres| Orchestral, Classical, Ambient, Rock
Occupation(s)| Composer, Arranger, Instrumentalist
Instrument(s)| Guitar, Piano, Bass
Years active| 2007-present

Musical artist

Jake Monaco is an American film and TV composer. He currently scores Amazon Prime Video's The Stinky & Dirty Show, Netflix's Dinotrux, and Warner Bros. Animation's Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!.

## Career[edit]

Monaco began playing guitar in high school,[1] later touring with a group while attending the University of Richmond in Virginia.[2] A few years after graduating, his bandmates opted to take up non-musical professional careers.

At the suggestion of a friend, Monaco enrolled in a film scoring course at University of Southern California. He has stated that although he had never had interest in scoring as a child, it was these classes that piqued his interest, explaining that he was "sucked in"[2] to the world of scoring almost immediately.

Monaco began assisting for composer Christophe Beck after graduating from the USC program, and through this connection he has contributed music to The Hangover film series, The Muppets, and Get Hard.[3] Monaco credits the time he spent assisting Beck as key to his success as a scorer, and has described assistant positions as "some of the best education and experience a young composer can receive".[4] After assisting Christophe Beck for eight years, Monaco made the decision to begin scoring on his own.[2]

Monaco credits some of his inspiration as a composer to a stable of unorthodox stringed instruments he acquired from Rich Briggs. Monaco's studio includes custom-built guitars including a hub cap guitar, a copper pot guitar and a wine box bass.[5]

## Discography[edit]

### Feature films[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director  | Notes

|
|
|

2010  | Role/Play | Rob Williams | —
2012  | Struck by Lightning | Brian Dannelly | —
The Men Next Door | Rob Williams  | —
2013  | Kilimanjaro | Walter Strafford  | —
Living on One Dollar | Zach Ingrasci
Sean Leonard
Chris Temple  | —
2014  | Out to Kill | Rob Williams  | —
Let's Be Cops | Luke Greenfield | Composed with Christophe Beck
Playing It Cool | Justin Reardon  | —
2016  | Kindergarten Cop 2 | Don Michael Paul | —
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie | Mandie Fletcher | —
A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits | Michelle Johnston  | —
Keeping Up with the Joneses | Greg Mottola | —
2018  | Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost | Doug Murphy  | Composed with Matthew Janszen
Dumplin' | Anne Fletcher | —
2019  | Through the Windows | Petey Barma
Bret 'Brook' Parker  | —
A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish | Michelle Johnston  | —
2020  | Walkaway Joe | Tom Wright | Composed with Christophe Beck
Think Like a Dog | Gil Junger | —
2021  | Flora & Ulysses | Lena Khan  | —
A Cinderella Story: Starstruck | Michelle Johnston  | Composed with Brittany Dunton

### Short films[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director  | Notes

|
|
|

2005  | Stuck | Adam Kargman  | —
2007  | Routine | Scott Brown  | —
Union Station | Beth Spitalny  | —
2008  | Better than Astronauts | Jonathan Barenboim  | —
Secret Circles, Hidden Prayers | Amber Beard  | —
The Orphan | Dan Treharne  | —
2009  | Roses | Trish Hadley  | —
Elevated | Jared Mark  | —
Point of Entry | Zeus Quijano Jr.  | —
2010  | Where Life Is | Coyote Marino  | —
A Tall Tale | Brittany Biggs  | —
I Suck | Jason Bowers  | —
2011  | Blunderkind | Zak Mechanic  | —
The Lepidoctor | Jonathan Barenboim  | —
2012  | The Road We've Traveled | Davis Guggenheim | —
2013  | The Magic Bracelet | Jon Poll  | —
2017  | Again | Alexis Jacknow  | —
2018  | Yellow is the New Black | Serguei Kouchnerov
Fabien Polack  | —
2019  | Santa's Little Helpers | Bruno Chauffard
Derek Drymon  | —
2020  | Lamp Life | Valerie LaPointe  | —
Out | Steven Hunter  | —

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Interview: Composer Jake Monaco - Movie Mom". Movie Mom. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
2. ^ a b c Geektown (2016-10-01), Interview With Composer Jake Monaco (And His Interesting Collection Of Instruments!), retrieved 2017-01-19
3. ^ "How Jake Monaco uses custom instruments in his fantastic scores". The Audio Spotlight. 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
4. ^ "JOB HACKS | How To Be A Self-Employed Composer". Inverse. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
5. ^ Composer Quest (2016-09-30), Jake Monaco's Studio Tour, retrieved 2017-01-19

## External links[edit]

* Jake Monaco at IMDb
* Interview with Jake Monaco, A Podcast Named Scooby-Doo!, October 2017

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

Other|

* IdRef